Although this blog was created originally for basset-related posts, I have deviated many times from posting just about bassets. I’ve posted about cruelty to animals, sweet cat stories, the plight of wild animals, and sweet penguins. Today, I’m deviating even further. I want to ask that my readers would open up their hearts to the plight of a human being.

CeliaSue and Cici

Background

Pet blogger and professional writer CeliaSue and her dog Cici, have written about dogs, pet travel and pit bulls for more than seven years now. CeliaSue put herself through college and worked hard all of her life starting at age 13 when she was the neighborhood babysitter. She grew up middle class and over the years, supported herself with several jobs and projects simultaneously. She achieved her dream of becoming a newspaper reporter and editor and even traveled around the world and interviewed celebrities and best-selling authors. Her life was beyond her expectations until her 50’s when she became very ill with fibromyalgia. And still with the help of a good friend, she relieved most of her painful symptoms (98% over a few years).

CeliaSue’s Accomplishments

She has written numerous times about the former Michael Vick dogs, Patrick (the starved pit-bull dog), Susie (the pit-bull mix that was beaten and set on fire) and many others. She has contributed much and spent many hours doing this labor of love (her blog) for the pit bull and dog loving community with little pay. She has given free publicity to many who have received tangible rewards (sales and media coverage).

The Landlord

Now, she and her dog Cici really need a helping paw UP. They’ve been living in a terrible situation with a hoarder landlord for the past four years. He routinely threatens, harasses, calls her names and lies. He torments CeliaSue by telling her the dog is hurt or run over. She has had to call the police on him several times. And she has had lawyers write letters asking him to cease and desist from his lewd and bullying behaviors.

He has now retaliated upon CeliaSue for the last police phone call by sending her a 30-day notice (even though by law, she deserves a 60 day notice and it is also illegal for him to retaliate. She was sticking up for her rights). He has even declared that he cannot wait for her to be without her dog and to be sleeping on the street. He laughs and laughs at her plight.

No one deserves to be living under these stressful conditions but she is without a car and living on Social Security retirement and food stamps now. She planned to work into her 70’s and 80s like her parents. It took her two years of being hungry ALL the time to finally apply for food stamps. (She never ever thought she would have to depend upon the government for anything). Now, she lives below the poverty line. She cannot afford to pay $650 a month or more for rent plus utilities and come up with first, last and deposit. Her family has gone to the Great Beyond.

Landlord Woes

Celia is worried about her health and her dog’s well being. She is approaching 65 years old and has osteoarthritis. One night, she was coughing and could not breathe and the landlord would not even extend the courtesy of giving her some water. He called her names and told her that he wanted her to die.

Why is this man so cruel? He drinks. He is dr jekyll and mr hyde and you never know which one is going to surface. And he thought that by having her as a roommate, he’d get a roommate with benefits. CeliaSue established from the beginning that benefits would not be part of the deal. He has become more and more abusive over time.

Hope

CeliaSue’s dog is in danger as well. This creep has opened the gate and left the dog to roam the streets. How can one live under such intolerable conditions? Well when you go from making $35,000+ a year to less than $7,000, I guess you endure a lot. But there’s hope for CeliaSue. She still dreams of helping other women her age (and women over 50 years old who are homeless). She has found out that some cities have created tiny house villages for people to live in. However, these homes cost between $7,000 and $13,000 (with wheels). There’s another less expensive choice for now: A used RV. It only costs $1,500.00. There is a place she could park it (off ground). She and her dog would be safe.

The RV

Cici

Have I mentioned that Cici is a pit-bull mix? If CeliaSue ends up in the streets, Cici would be facing going to a shelter, and we all know what happens to pit bulls in shelters—they are the first one killed. Despite the fact that Cici is a very affectionate dog, she more than likely would not survive, not an 8-year-old pit-bull mix.

How to Help

So, can you look into your heart and help a fellow human being and prevent a dog from going into a shelter. A small donation, any amount will help a destitute woman, soon to be 65 years old, with health issues (osteoarthritis) and suffering with chronic pain. Let us make her golden years without stress. Please click here and help out.

Cici Thanks You

Bassets: Are They Couch Potatoes?

Most people think of a basset hound as the perfect couch-potato dog. Most bassets are low key, don’t disturb my sleep kind of dog. Many also claim that because basset hounds are stubborn by nature (after all, they were bred to follow their nose and get that rabbit out of the briar patch) are therefore difficult to train, much less expect them to be obedient. I have had bassets in my life for over 30 years. Some of my bassets were downright stubborn and I learned to follow their commands. Others, especially my current 9-year-old basset obeys me simply because she loves me. But recently, after following a new “friend” in Facebook, I found out about a basset who can do something that never in my wildest dream did I imagine a basset being able to do. He just recently became a CS-ATCH, which I found out means Canine Specialist Agility Trial Champion. His name is Diesel, and his slave or guardian (I hate the name “owner”) is Shelly Nowicki Gordon who is the president and intake coordinatior of ABC Basset Hound Rescue of NY.

Diesel’s Story

So let’s find out a little bit about this amazing hound. Diesel, according to Shelly, came from a backyard breeder (BYB). Most of the rescue bassets come either from BYB or puppy mill because a bona-fide breeder will take your hound back if for some reason you need to have it rehomed. So don’t be fooled when you purchase a basset. It doesn’t matter that they have AKC papers, as the American Kennel Club is not vigilant about what type of breeders are breeding the dogs. Anyway, if you are to get a BYB dog, you might as well get a rescued dog. It’ll make room for new rejected dogs to be rehomed rather than facing euthanasia in a shelter.

Anyway, back to Diesel’s story. Diesel and his sister Andi were purchased together. But the person who bought them could not housetrain them (bassets take up to 18 months to realize that the grass carpet and not the indoor carpet is the place to go). This person, however, did the right thing. She didn’t take the dogs to the shelter, where more than likely they meet death within a few days, she took them to ABC rescue. At ABC, foster homes were set up, and the person changed her mind. She was going to try and work with them.
A month passed by and ABC was called again. The dogs had to go. The person (female) could not housetrain them. The original fosters homes were full, so Shelly offered to help by fostering one of them. She figured that as they were only 7 months old, they would soon be adopted. Shelly chose to foster the male hound (Diesel), since she always had males.

The joke was on Shelly. For some reason, nobody wanted to adopt Diesel. And after few weeks, Diesel was adopted by the Gordon family. Lucky for Diesel, Shelly had a friend who was working agility with her basset hounds, which spurn Shelly to try to sign Diesel up for agility class.

So Diesel was taking classes, but it was not until the same friend who talked Shelly to take classes talked her to sign him up for local trials. At the first trial, Diesel surprised every one by getting the red ribbon for second place. Shelly was hooked.

Diesel Gets His Ribbons

Three years later, Diesel got the CS-ATCH that he and his slave were working so hard for. An exhuberant Shelly says that the day Diesel got his CS-ATCH was “ One of the best days of my life. From a dog that couldn’t be housebroken…to a dog that can do a teeter and weave poles.”

An exchange student from Germany who lived with the Gordons once said, “Diesel will do anything to make [Shelly] happy.” Shelly says that, “Standing at the start line next to me, running with him for 40–60 seconds, and crossing the finish line together…that makes me happy. Ribbons or no ribbons. He’s a great teammate and I’m honored that he was chosen for me.”

Diesel’s Triumphant Moment

Bassets Rock

It’s just awesome to see Diesel confidently go through the entire agility course. So, if you are into doing some agility work and want to have a basset. Don’t hesitate, if the dog loves you and you work hard together, you will be a great team.

And here’s a nice side note: In 2008, Diesel’s mom (Eeyore) was for sale in the paper. Shelly convinced the owner to turn her in to rescue. And she adopted her too. She’s a therapy dog and goes to a nursing home on Tuesdays.

Sea World in San Diego just pioneered a revolutionary reproductive technique that will potentially help threatened or endangered species in the wild. They were able to produce a healthy penguin via artificial insemination by using frozen-then-thawed semen. The result of this technique is shown in the video. He is a healthy 12-week-old penguin. Enjoy the video.

Today has to be one of the hardest days I have experienced in rescue. At 5:26 this evening, I had to say good-bye to BUBBLES. I am still in shock, as I am typing this. The last two days she has been happy and playful like she has been for the last three months. She quit eating even prosciutto this morning and I discovered her abdomen had become swollen. I looked at her gums and they were barely pink so I rushed her to the hospital. We did bloodwork and x-rays of her lungs to see what had suddenly changed. Her bloodwork was great and she was not anemic. She was not getting enough oxygen. The x-rays showed that the tumors in her lungs had almost doubled in size. One lobe of her lungs was not functioning at all and was putting pressure on her heart. She couldn’t get enough oxygen and fluid was building up in her lower half because of pressure on the heart. My only options were to say good-bye or to do a Thoracotamy and remove the lung lobe that was not functioning. I could not put this amazing dog through any more surgery. She has been the happiest I have ever seen an animal be and has loved every second of Life since I rescued her. I knew I had to say good-bye. I brought her home and let her rest in all of her special places with me wrapped around her in our typical spoon position. I made arrangements for Dr. Jason King, that knew Bubbles well and loved her, to come to the house to say our final good-byes. Bubbles went peacefully to sleep cradled in my arms.

​I am sure this note is as much a shock to everyone as it is to me. I still can’t believe she is gone. If I had to do it all over again, I would not change a thing. Bubbles had the biggest heart I have ever experienced. She fought to get her chance at happiness and she WON. She was the happiest most loving dog. We will all miss her. I wish we had more time together but the time we had was amazing. I have cherished every second with her since the day she was rescued. She lived her Life completely to the final breathe. She knew Love. She gave Love. She was Love. She will forever be missed and forever cherished. She never gave up on us and we never gave up on here.